The expansion of higher education, teacher education policies and the attractiveness of the teaching career

Abstract

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.14244/198271991013

This study aims to analyze some results of a research conducted on the expansion of teacher education programs, which have as a reference the guidelines issued by international organizations, specifically OREALC/UNESCO. These guidelines focus on the issues related to the value of the teaching profession from studies on initial and continuing training policies and career of basic education teachers implemented by the Brazilian government in the last ten years. In order to achieve this, a documentary and content analysis research was conducted based on the documents used as reference, as well as on statistical data provided by MEC/INEP and CAPES. From these references, we tried to measure the influence of international organizations in teacher education policy in Brazil, and at the same time we sought to identify, through data from the Higher Education Census the growth that may have occurred in training courses for teachers in the country. The conclusions show that despite several laws passed on the subject, the teacher education programs still do not represent a significant option to attract young people to the profession or contribute in a representative way with the expansion of higher education. Finally, the study reveals that the possible expansion in teaching degrees is becoming true because of PARFOR, which means in-service training for teachers who are already working.

Keywords: Expansion of higher education, International organizations, Teacher education policies and  the value of the teaching profession